War Medals and Their HistorySteward, William Augustus
History
War Medals and Their History
Steward, William Augustus
Great Britain. Army -- Medals, badges, decorations, etc.; Great Britain. Royal Navy -- Medals, badges, decorations, etc.
=Nassau Medal.=--Fredrich Duke of Nassau was the first to issue a medal
for Waterloo--that was on December 23rd, 1815. It is a small silver
medal 1⅒ in. in diameter, with a lug stamped with the medal, through
which ribbon could be run for suspension. On the obverse is the bust
of the Duke, and the inscription FRIEDRICH AUGUST HERZOG ZU NASSAU.
Underneath the truncation are the letters I.L. On the reverse, to the
left, is a standing figure of Victory, holding in her right hand a
palm branch, while with the left she is represented placing a laurel
wreath upon the brow of a Roman soldier; in the exergue is DEN 18 JUNI
1815, and round the figures DEN NASSAUISCHEN STREITERN BEY WATERLOO.
The medal, issued unnamed, was suspended from a dark-blue ribbon with
orange edges.
=Hanover Medal.=--The Hanover medal was struck by command of the Prince
Regent of Great Britain. The order was given in December 1817, and was
to the effect that surviving soldiers of his German dominions and the
relatives of those who had fallen at Waterloo were eligible for the
award. The medal is 1⅖ in. in diameter, and bears on the obverse the
laureated head of the Prince Regent facing to the right, the truncation
draped, and surrounded by the inscription GEORG. PRINZ. REGENT 1815.
The reverse bears in the centre WATERLOO JUN. XVIII, flanked by laurel
wreaths, with a small trophy consisting of a cuirass and flags above,
and the whole encircled by the inscription HANOVERISCHER TAPFERKEIT.
The medal was suspended from a steel clip and ring by means of a
crimson and blue-edged ribbon, like that used for the British Waterloo.
=Brunswick Medal.=--The Prince Regent (as guardian of the minor Princes
of Brunswick) was also responsible for the issue of a medal to the
soldiers of Brunswick who were present in the engagements of June 16th,
17th and 18th, 1815. The order for the striking was given on June
11th, 1818, and the medals were struck from captured French cannon.
On the obverse is the head of Duke Fredrich Wilhelm of Brunswick, who
fell at Quatre Bras, and the inscription in German lettering FRIEDRICH
WILHELM HERZOG; on the truncation of the bust is C. Häseler in script.
On the reverse is a wreath of oak and laurel, encircling 1815, and the
inscription in German lettering arranged round and divided by rosettes,
Braunschweig Seinen Kriegern. Quatrebras und Waterloo (Brunswick to her
Warriors. Quatre Bras and Waterloo). The medal, 1⁷⁄₂₀ in. in diameter,
was suspended from a steel clip and ring by a 1½ in. yellow ribbon,
with broad blue stripes equal to one quarter the width near the edge.
The officers' medals were gilt, with the names indented on the edge.
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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